Parisina

"This turned out to be a calamitous year for the people of Ferrara; for there occurred a very tragical event in the court of
their sovereign. Our annals, both printed and in manuscript, with the exception of the unpolished and negligent work of Sardi,
and one other, have given the following relation of it,  from which, however, are rejected many details, and especially the
narrative of Bandelli, who wrote a century afterwards, and who does not accord with the contemporary historians.

By the above-mentioned Stella dell' Assassino, the Marquis, in the year 1405, had a son called Ugo, a beautiful and ingenuous youth.
Parisina Malatesta, second wife of Niccolo, like the generality of step-mothers, treated him with little kindness, to the infinite
regret of the Marquis, who regarded him with fond partiality. One day she asked leave of her husband to undertake a certain journey,
to which he consented, but upon condition that Ugo should bear her company; for he hoped by these means to induce her, in the end,
to lay aside the obstinate aversion which she had conceived against him.

And indeed his intent was accomplished but too well, since, during the journey, she not only divested herself of all her hatred,
but fell into the opposite extreme. After their return, the Marquis had no longer any occasion to renew his former reproofs.
It happened one day that a servant of the Marquis, named Zoese, or, as some call him, Giorgio, passing
before the apartments of
Parisina, saw going out from them one of her chamber-maids, all terrified and in tears.

Asking the reason, she told him that her mistress, for some slight offence, had been beating her; and, giving vent to her rage,
she added, that she could easily be revenged, if she chose to make known the criminal familiarity which existed between Parisina
and her step-son. The servant took note of the words, and related them to his master. He was astounded thereat, but scarcely
believing his ears, he assured himself of the fact  alas! too clearly  on the 18th of May,
by looking through a hole made in the ceiling of his wife's chamber. Instantly, he broke into a furious rage, and arrested both
of them, together with Aldobrandino Rangoni, of Modena, her gentleman, and, also, as some say, two of the women of her chamber, as
abettors of
this sinful act. He ordered them to be brought to a hasty trial, desiring the judges to pronounce sentence, in the accustomed
forms, upon the culprits. This sentence was death. Some there were that bestirred themselves in favour of the delinquents, and
amongst others, Ugoccion Contrario, who was all-powerful with Niccolo, and also his aged and much deserving minister, Alberto
dal Sale. Both of these, their tears flowing down their cheeks, and upon their knees,
implored him for mercy; adducing whatever reasons they could suggest for sparing the offenders, besides those motives of honour
and decency which might persuade him to conceal from the public so scandalous a deed. But his rage made him inflexible, and, on
the instant, he commanded that the sentence should be put into execution.

It was, then, in the prisons of the castle, and exactly in those frightful dungeons which are seen at this day beneath the chamber
called the Aurora, at the foot of the Lion's tower, at the top of the street Giovecca, that on the night of the 21st of May were
beheaded, first, Ugo, and afterwards Parisina. Zoese, he that accused her, conducted the latter under his arm to the place of
punishment. She, all along, fancied that she was to be thrown into a pit, and asked at
every step, whether she was yet come to the spot? She was told that her punishment was the axe. She inquired what had become
of Ugo, and received for answer, that he was already dead; at the which, sighing grievously, she exclaimed, 'Now, then, I wish not
myself to live;' and being come to the block, she stripped herself with her own hands of all her ornaments, and wrapping a cloth
around her head, submitted to the fatal stroke, which terminated the cruel scene. The same was done with Rangoni, who, together
with the others, according to two calendars in the library of St Francesco, was buried in the cemetery of that convent.
Nothing else is known respecting the women.

The Marquis kept watch the whole of that dreadful night, and, as he was walking backwards and forwards, inquired of the
captain of the castle if Ugo was dead yet? who answered him, Yes. He then gave himself up to the most desperate lamentations,
exclaiming, 'Oh, that I too was dead, since I have been hurried on to resolve thus against my own Ugo!' And then gnawing with
his teeth a cane which he had in his hand, he passed the rest of the night in sighs and in tears, calling frequently upon his
own dear Ugo. On the following day, calling to mind that it would be necessary to make public his justification, seeing that the
transaction could not be kept secret, he ordered the narrative to be drawn out upon paper, and sent it to all the courts of Italy.
On receiving this advice, the Doge of Venice, Franceso Foscari, gave orders, but without publishing his reasons, that stop should
be put to the preparations for a tournament, which, under the auspices of the Marquis, and at the expense of the city of Padua,
was about to take place, in the square of St. Mark, in order to celebrate his advancement to the ducal chair.

The Marquis, in addition to what he had already done, from some unaccountable burst of vengeance, commanded that as many of
the married women as were well known to him to be faithless, like his Parisina, should, like her, be beheaded. Amongst others,
Barberina, or, as some call her, Laodamia Romei, wife of the court judge, underwent this sentence, at the usual place of
execution; that is to say, in the quarter of St Giacoma, opposite the present fortress, beyond St Paul's. It cannot be told
how strange appeared this proceeding in a prince who, considering his own disposition, should, as it seemed, have been in such
cases most indulgent. Some, however, there were who did not fail to commend him."